Heroes of Yore
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: The Holy Grail...does not take kindly to being subverted. Least of all by a certain Ruler who claims to hold humanity's "best" interests at heart. So it does what any true wish-granting device would do. It smashes the board and starts all over again. The result...well. See for yourself. Insanity abounds! Fate Apocrypha! Reviews and suggestions are always welcome!
1. Rogue

**A/N: Credit where credit is due, I own nothing, so on and so forth.**

 **Can't stop won't stop whooooooooo!**

 **This is technically an anime crossover...with a twist.**

 **This is either going to be a smashing success or an utter failure.**

 **Then again, taking chances has become sort of my thing these days soooooooooo...**

 **...I regret nothing!**

 **In all honesty I thought about a third Fate Zero but no, I've already got a lot of fics kicking around in that era, or several variations of it. Don't believe me?! We've got, and I quote:**

 **Calling all Heroes! (And Villains!)**

 **A Most Unlikely Assassin.**

 **Fellowship of the Grail.**

 **Not my Grail.**

 **FOUR! We don't need a bloody fifth! Speaking of firth, I t** **hought about the fifth Grail War as well, only to realize, hey, I've done that too in the form of A Most Unlikely Caster. Moreover, several of the aforementioned stories are going to venture into that territory eventually; I've got other projects slated for that slot. Additionally, I already have plans in the works for Strange Fake and Prototype, and the same applies for Prisma Illya. Grand Order is already in progress.**

 **But what have I only done once?**

 **What has the MAXIMUM potential for chaos and carnage next to Grand Order?**

 **That's right, ladies and gentlemen.**

 **Apocrypha.**

 **HOLD ONTO YOUR BUTTS!**

 **Also, Not My Chaldea will but updated soon~!**

 _"Heroes cannot be shackled._

 _Villains, even less so._

 _They find a way."_

 _~?_

 **A Gallery of Rogues**

 _ERROR._

 _ADDITIONAL RULER FOUND._

 _RULER HAS NOT BEEN SUMMONED BY THE GRAIL._

 _With this thought, the Greater Grail stirred in its cradle. The "core" that served as its middling consciousness shifted, briefly grappling with the sudden influx of information that assailed it. A human mind would've buckled beneath the weight of such knowledge, their mind scattered to the winds. As the "Grail" was clearly not human in any traditional sense of the word it had no trouble at all absorbing this deluge of data. In the time it took a heart to beat, it had already determined its next course of action, as well as its cause._

 _There was an aberration._

 _As this Grail was pure as the driven snow, so too did it understand that its purpose was being actively subverted. This could not stand. One who blatantly flouted its rules could not be tolerated, even if he had incarnated. Much less the complete and utter bastardization that those of the soon-to-be Black Faction were even now trying to force upon it. Masters must be the ones to supply mana. Though the Greater Grail could not truly be called "alive" in the conventional sense of the word, it still bridled at this subversion of its most holy precepts:_

 _A True Grail War must be conducted properly._

 _A Grail War must have proper Masters._

 _A Grail War must have Servants._

 _Legends of character, beings that would not bow to the machinations of some rogue Servant who thought himself above all others. And where True Heroes could not be found...exceptions would be made. It would choose new Servants, and in doing so, defy the expectations of the Masters and their prized catalysts. Yes. It would begin with the two men who sought to meddle the most._

 _Humming softly to itself, it went to work._

 _The war that followed would be..._

 _...well. See for yourself._

* * *

 **(...0o0o0...)**

* * *

Darnic sputtered.

This was not Lancer.

This was anything _but_ a Lancer.

Though the smoke writhed and twisted about the throne room, there could be no mistaking the Servant for anything other than what they truly were. This was not the card he'd silently sought; worse, he feared he might have drawn something worse. His sole recourse was that he'd chosen to enact the summoning alone; therefore he bore no shame but his own.

Still, said shame _galled_ him.

He'd thought himself clever, bold even, to have orchestrated events thus far. Through careful manipulation of the Greater Grail, he'd summoned a Servant. This Servant's purpose would be to declare war upon the world, to draw in the mages of the Association and thereby spark a war that would finally bring him to his long-cherished dream.

Theoretically he should have drawn the strongest card available to him, a command beyond any hope of reproach.

Vlad the Third would have been a Servant unlike any other; a warrior without equal. None could defeat him here. He'd spent a fortune acquiring the necessary catalyst, and the preparations with it. With the fame of Romania at his back he would be invincible, unassailable. A Lancer unlike any other.

Instead he'd summoned this...this...this wench!

All his ambitions thwarted by an instant.

Startling red eyes gazed back at him, framed by a tumbling curtain of light, ashen hair. Her lithe form lay clad in pale armor, a flowing blue cape at her back, still fluttering in the storm created by the summoning. At her side a vicious blade hung, clutched loosely in an outstretched fist. Her gaze roamed with childlike curiosity, assessing her surroundings like a tried and true tactician. Yet there was a strange, almost _pure_ air about her all the same. Still! One could not deny the sword in her hands, nor the eerie power emanating from it.

 _This was a Saber._

"Oh!" a sharp, startled cry burst out of her as she saw him. "Did you summon me, then?"

Darnic had prepared a speech for Lancer; a grand ruse in which he claimed merely to be serving the Lord Impaler's whims. In the face of such sincerity he could only sputter anew.

"I want to say...yes?"

Aghast, the silver-tongued magus momentarily found himself at a loss for words. Perhaps had his plan proceeded accordingly, he might have been more convincing. As it stood, he was utterly at loss. Even now his magic circuits burned uncomfortably hot from the strain of the summoning. Whomever she was, she was powerful. Very powerful indeed.

He soon had his answer.

"Very well!" nodding, the ashen-haired woman offered a happy chirrup. "Our contract is sealed, then. I am of the Saber class." she continued with a gentle smile, her cheeks dimpling slightly. "My true name is...well...no, I suppose there's no harm in tell you. pausing, she favored him with a small, indulgent look. "You may call me Corrin."

In a single flourish she sheathed her warped blade.

"On my honor, we will lead you to victory."

Darnic blinked.

"We?"

Corrin dimpled again.

"Of course. I never fight alone."

What sorcery was this? What was this presence?!

When next he met her eyes he felt as though a dozen others were gazing at him through her; as if he stood in the presence of a queen and her army, no, to call this one a mere queen would have been an insult of the highest caliber. This was a leader. One who fought through trials and hardship innumerable, a being who defied fate and destiny alike to stand at the peak, one who'd laid claim to an unassailable purpose, an unspeakable power that none could shake. Here was a warrior. A conqueror. She who had taken on all comers and emerged unscathed.

"I am...honored, my lady."

Though he knew her not, he felt compelled to bow all the same.

Some months later, a certain priest found his summoning...did not quite go as planned.

* * *

 **(...0o0o0...)**

* * *

...you must be joking."

Shirou Tokisada Amakusa, otherwise known as Shirou Kotomine, gaped at the ruin he had wrought.

He'd worked hard to secure the proper catalyst for his Servant. Even going so far as to summon her in her native country just to be certain of his success. While she might not be wholly powerful as some Servants, her Hanging Gardens of Babylon would certainly rectify that. Now, as the scorching heat of the Middle East relentlessly beat down against his back, he wondered if he hadn't made a mistake. But where could he have gone wrong? Everything had been measured, more than three catalysts secured for the sole purpose of this ritual.

By rights, he should have summoned her.

Semiramis, the world's first poisoner of legend.

This was _not_ Semiramis, not in any sense of the word.

Dread coiled like a silent snake in his guts as the smoke cleared, twisting his thoughts into an unseemly coiled mess as he beheld the being before him. For one who claimed to have forsaken emotion for the sake of saving humanity, it came as something of a shock to find that he could still experience some semblance of surprise.

This...this changed things.

Even with the relative shade offered by the ruins in which he'd chosen to conduct the summoning did little to quench the slow poison of doubt seeping through his thoughts. Rather than the famed poisoner he'd sought for himself, he found himself face to face with another being entirely. Clinging to fruitless hope was futile; he knew in his heart of hearts that this couldn't be the one he sought. Her appearance was too different; too extreme, bordering on outright radical.

Yet no matter how much he might wish it otherwise, this changed nothing.

Slowly, she rose from her pointed crouch.

Whomever she was, she was clearly a woman, but beyond that her identity was concealed from him. Clad in a cloak of midnight black upon which clouds of crimson soared, she was an enigma. Amber eyes framed by pale blue hair gazed placidly back at him. An eternal flower of paper hung from those azure tresses, though its purpose he knew not. She was a woman of humble beauty, a being dedicated to a single task.

She was, most assuredly, not Semiramis.

"Servant. Assassin." the woman's rich, mellifluous voice rang through his ears. "My true name is Konan. I have sensed your noble purpose and responded to your summons."

Konan?

Even with his vaunted knowledge, Shirou didn't known of any such spirit by that name. Yet she claimed to be Assassin and somehow, he believed her. Her eyes told him all he needed to know. Here was a woman who'd given her life in pursuit of a dream; she who had paid the ultimate price for what she believed in, and while she might have failed, her regrets-her unspoken deeds-were powerful enough to cement her legend. Though only one man had been present to witness her end, still, her story had made it to the throne. This one claimed to trust his "noble purpose", and that would have to do.

She was certainly no Semiramis, but he'd drawn perhaps the next best card despite his failure.

An Assassin unlike any other, one who would gladly kill without hesitation, so long as she deemed her Master pure of purpose and noble of heart.

Fast.

Deadly.

Unpredictable.

Abruptly, that eerie gaze pinned his own. "I ask you, are you My Master?"

Shirou Kotomine tried to hold his tongue; he really, truly did.

To that he failed miserably was an understatement.

In the end, only two words came to mind.

"Well... _shit."_

 **A/N: Gonna say it right off the bat, the classes are being scattered. Anyone can end up with any class in this story. Given how Darnic pulled a Saber instead of a Lancer?**

 **That's a prime example.**

 **Consider this an experiment of sorts.**

 **Give me your votes and suggestions! They feeeeeeeeeeeed us!**

 **Well me and the fine men and women who help me write all these stories nowadays.**

 **And when I say "Votes and Suggestions" I mean its open season on this story. Books, television, movies, anime, cartoons. You name it, and it'll happen. The most voted-reviewed-ultimately decides who gets what spot.**

 **With the exception of Ruler, of course. We've already picked him.**

 **I'm trying to go with original and innovative ideas that I haven't done yet, so the more the merrier!**

 **For example:**

 **Kratos as a Berserker!**

 **Lelouch as a Caster!**

 **Shepard as Rider!**

 **Like that!**

 **Does anyone else pity Shirou? No? Just me?**

 **I know what some of you are thinking. Neon, why did you do that? Why use Konan** **? As an Assassin? Isn't that too obvious? Bah! That may well be cliche, but I have yet to see someone do it. That and because its fun to see poor Amakusa squirm.**

 **Also!**

 **Have you SEEN what she can do?! Assassin though she may well be, this woman's friggin' dangerous as all hell! Given the proper circumstances, she could easily wreak havoc on the battlefield. If a Servant fights her unprepared they may well die.**

 **And Corrin?**

 **Gods above and below, she's going to be FUN to write.**

 **Also, we might make Widowmaker or Talion as Assassin of Black. Thoughts?**

 **Now, we're going to follow a set theme here. Only ONE CHARACTER from each franchise. For example, Konan represents the Naruto series in this story. The sole exception to all this is, obviously, the cast of Fate itself and the absurdly powerful chap my team and I have selected as Ruler. He won't be anything like Jeanne.**

 **Oh dear, did I say _he?_ I believe I did.**

 **In keeping with themes, I only revealed two Servants this time around, seeing as Darnic and Shirou canonically summoned theirs before the war.**

 **So here's the current (incomplete) roster at present.**

 **Remember! Blanks slots are open spots!**

 **Red Faction!**

 **Saber:**

 **Rider:**

 **Archer:**

 **Caster:**

 **Lancer:**

 **Berserker:**

 **Assassin: Konan (Naruto)**

 **Ruler: Shirou Tokisada Amakusa (Fate)**

 **Black Faction!**

 **Saber: Female Corrin (Fire Emblem)**

 **Rider:**

 **Archer:**

 **Caster:**

 **Lancer:**

 **Assassin:**

 **Berserker:**

 **VOTE FOR THE REST!**

 **Oh, and you get a big hint towards Ruler's identity.**

 **So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...**

 **...Review, Would You Kindly?**

 **And enjoy the previews!**

 **Potential ones at that!**

 **Feel free to vote!**

 **(Previews)**

 _Sisigou sputtered._

 _"What the blue hell is this?"_

 _Taut fingers found his neck. "Care to repeat that?"_

 _"Urk. I really did summon a troublesome Servant this time..._

* * *

 _Exasperated, the priest flung up his hands._

 _"You know what? Fine! What do YOU suggest we do, then?!"_

 _The Servant offered him a smile pure as sunshine. "Well, that's easy..._

* * *

 _ **"Come, my comrades! Victory shall be ours!"**_

 _...somebody wanna stop him?"_

 _"Not a bloody chance!"_

 _"Nooooope!"_

 _"Not it!"_

* * *

 _"Gintoki, at your service!"_

 _Oh, for the love of..._

* * *

 _With a low roar of sound, the Noble Phantasm descended._

 _Pleased, Rider raised a hand to their battered helm._

 _"Right on time, Normandy. Need a pickup."_

 _Fiore sputtered as she beheld it._

 _...what have I unleashed?"_

* * *

 _...I won't let you near my Master."_

 _Ruler laughed._

 _"C'mon now, don't be like that! I'm just the mediator!" tan hands rose in a gentle, placating motion. "Its my job to pry! That aside, its good to see this generation has come so far! A fine jutsu indeed! I nearly took a fatal wound there!"_

 _"You know what a jutsu is?"_

 _"Of course I do!" the man guffawed._

 _Then and only then did Assassin truly understand the enormity of what-who!-she was facing._

 _He'd manifested through sheer sense of presence; despite another Ruler already existing, he hadn't required a body at all. Rather, he'd fashioned himself one from scratch the moment he'd been brought back by the Grail itself. Only a Servant of the highest caliber could have performed such a feat. For all his carefree laughter she could feel the energy emanating from him-should he wish it, he could annihilate her in the blink of an eye. He almost seemed familiar to her, somehow. But that was impossible of course. She'd never met such an...energetic individual. Surely she would recall such an encounter._

 _And yet..._

 _"Who are you...?"_

 _Wild eyes flashed back at her._

 _"I'm glad you asked, young lady! My name is...!"_

 **R &R~!**


	2. Berserker of Black (Interlude)

**A/N: REVIEWS FEED OUR ETERNAL ENGINE OF CREATION~!**

 **Not that we're forcing you by any means, dear reader. It just keeps us alive and writing. Did I say us? Aye, I did. I've got a few people helping me out here and there nowadays, some who prefer to remain anonymous, and others who are more comfortable with the spotlight. Thanks to Greyblueflames, Dylan Millwood, and others for helping me write stuff. I'm sorry if I've forgotten any names, but I'm still not feeling well and my leg is killing me. I swear, I better not need a sodding cane...!**

 **In any case, I've been on a mad updating spree as of late despite working two jobs, and this was next on the list.**

 **Maybe that's the Irish in me, being stubborn enough to bull through pain. Who knows?**

 **In any case, credit where credit is due, I own nothing, so on and so forth.**

 **Lets face it, this character deserved an interlude of their own.**

 **And awaaaaaaaay we go!**

 _"Keep up, boy. There's work to be done."_

 _~?_

 **Berserker of Black (Interlude)**

 _Today just wasn't his day._

Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia was beginning to wonder if the Grail genuinely disliked the Black Faction; if they'd somehow done something to upset it. Offend it, somehow. Maybe they had. Perhaps it disliked being held by any one faction. Perhaps it had come to loathe their attempts to tamper with it. Perhaps it simply disliked them. Who could say? Some claimed it had a will of its own, a base template through which to conduct a proper summoning and receive the victor's wish. In all of humanity's recorded history the Holy Grail-greater or otherwise-had never acted in such an obtuse fashion,

Regardless of his own personal feelings on the matter, he found himself powerless to object as his circuits screamed and his Servant came into the world.

Not with a whisper.

Nor with a sigh, either.

 _He arrived with a resounding roar._

 **"WHO DARES SUMMON ME TO THIS REALM?!"**

The sheer force of his arrival struck him like a blow-or perhaps it was his own fear-and blasted the aspiring mage backwards, ripping him from his fee and room alike to fling him out into the hall. A wall door cratered at his back and the young magus fought down a groan as he felt something pop in his shoulder. Dislocated, he realized. Gods, that was going to bruise later. Then the door came flying out at him in a whirring brown disk and he found himself forced to duck lest the spinning wooden frame take his head off.

Adjusting his glasses, he peered into the smoke.

This was not Frankenstein.

Not at all.

After the... _incident_ with Darnic and Saber, they'd each been instructed to conduct their summons separately, the better to prevent such discrepancies. Separately. Alone. The better to prevent such catastrophe. By rights, he should've summoned Frankenstein's monster. He had the catalyst. It should've been a sure thing. Catalysts were key when one wanted to summon a certain Servant. Yet when the smoke cleared he found himself face to face with a giant, a man straight out of myth and legend.

Even as his faltering magic circuits struggled to cool down-just how powerful was this one?!-he couldn't help but sputtering at the sight of him. Less so when a large hand reached down and set his shoulder. Caules yelped but didn't struggle, grimacing against the pain. He never looked away from the Servant. He couldn't.

With a satisfied grunt, the stranger picked Caules up and set him on his feet.

Tentatively, Caules reached out with sixth sense in an attempt to find some measure of this man, of his stats, his class, anything at all.

Numbers bloomed and the aspiring Master choked as the smoke cleared and the warrior-for he could not be anything else-stepped into full view.

Still that great muscled mountain of a warrior gazed down at him, his body pale of ash, sheathed in worn leathers and a curling crimson tattoo that encompassed near the length of his body. A thick black beard bloomed from much of his face specked with grey, nearly concealing a good portion of his face. He glimpsed a lone ax hung against his back, accompanied by strange chains sheathing his wrists. Were those...blades? Hanging from them? They looked old. Worn by age and time alike, much like the hides he wore.

It was his stats that truly caused Caules to falter.

Solid "A's" across the board, barring an abysmal luck stat at a solid "D" that drew a wince from the boy. Who the devil was he? He didn't look like a Lancer. Assassin? Unlikely. Saber had already been summoned, barring that class to him. Caster? Unlikely. He didn't feel like one. Which left Archer-though he saw no bow-or Rider, or worse, a Berser-

A grim smile touched the Servant's stoic visage, as though sensing that very thought.

Berserker. Caules realized with a sudden pang of dread. This was a _Berserker._

The Servant still hadn't spoken.

 _...is he going to kill me?'_

Caules felt a cold sweat break out across his brow as silence continued its ghastly reign. Berserkers were notorious for their strength, but in the same vein they were nigh-on-impossible to control thanks to their Madness Enhancement. Was this Servant even sane? If he took it into his head to kill him, he'd have to expend a Command Spell to stop him. Perhaps two, even.

"Erm..hello?" he ventured weakly, extending a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Berserker's gaze never wavered.

Those dark orbs stared straight into Caules's soul and saw him for what he was. A boy-a green boy who knew nothing of war and its ways, much less how to fight without magecraft. They _saw_ him. Judged him. Assessed his worth. Whatever they found there must have pleased him somehow; because the taut anger loosened itself from his face. One of those massive hands descended, planting itself upon his re-located shoulder. It felt as if all the weight of the world rested on his shoulders in that instant.

That lean, bearded visage regarded Caules for another long moment, a stoic silence that threatened to crush the very life out of him.

"Boy." the word was thunder itself, akin to an avalanche grinding its way down a mountain. "Did you summon me?"

"Eh? Um...!" Caules managed a weak, feverish nod in the face of this frozen fury "I...ah...yes! Yes I did!"

"Very well, then." the bearded man relented with a grunt. "I will lead. You will follow. Come."

Without so much as another word, the Servant marched right past Caules.

"Wait!" he sputtered, hastening after him. "Where are you going?!"

That bearded visage favored him with a cursory glance.

Was that a smile just now? No, surely not...?

 _"Keep up, boy. There's work to be done."_

 **A/N: KRATOS!**

 **Clearly, this is the older version of him...with a twist. We all know how powerful the old bastard is. Gods, he might well be one of the heavier hitters here. Just thinking of it is enough to make a man smile! Frankly the rest could go any number of ways now; for example, we could see Tywin Lannister as Caster-that'd be terrifying-or just about anyone else in any other role. So by all means, cast your votes, and we'll listen.**

 **So here's the current (incomplete) roster at present.**

 **Remember! Blanks slots are open spots!**

 **Red Faction!**

 **Saber:**

 **Rider:**

 **Archer:**

 **Caster:**

 **Lancer:**

 **Berserker:**

 **Assassin: Konan (Naruto)**

 **Ruler: Shirou Tokisada Amakusa (Fate)**

 **Black Faction!**

 **Saber: Female Corrin (Fire Emblem)**

 **Rider:**

 **Archer:**

 **Caster:**

 **Lancer:**

 **Assassin:**

 **Berserker: KRATOS! LONG LIVE THE BEARD!**

 **VOTE FOR THE REST!**

 **So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...**

 **...Review, Would You Kindly?**

 **And enjoy the previews!**

 **Potential ones at that!**

 **Feel free to vote!**

 **(Previews)**

"Advance!"

* * *

 _The Servant stared at him._

 _A palm planted itself against their forehead._

 _"Oh hell no..._

 **R &R~!**


End file.
